


Ain't That a Shot in The Head

by Across_The_Sea



Category: Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Additional Tags to Be Added, Canon-Typical Violence, Courier is Lone Wanderer | Lone Wanderer is Courier, F/M, I just really like the courier being the lone wanderer, even though I know it's not
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-18 01:09:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29601546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Across_The_Sea/pseuds/Across_The_Sea
Summary: Alice was known as the savior of the wasteland but instead of hanging up her gun she heads to the Mojave looking for more adventure.What she wasn't expecting was getting shot in the head and losing her memory. The only piece of her old life now was Charon's contract and a vague memory she had of the ghoul.Now going by the name Six, she is setting out to find not only the man who put a bullet in her head but for the ghoul that could be the key to recovering her memories.
Relationships: Charon & Lone Wanderer, Craig Boone/Female Lone Wanderer
Kudos: 3





	1. Mojave, Mo Problems

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah I know it's probably not possible for the Lone Wanderer to be the Courier but a that doesn't stop it from being a cool story idea!
> 
> I've wanted to write a NV fic for a while and what better time than when I'm in the middle of playing the game for the 100th time!
> 
> Comments are always appreciated and I hope you enjoy!

"Good morning Capital Wasteland! Three Dog here. It's another beautiful day in the-" the radio on Alice's pipboy was shut off with a groan as she slowly woke up. It was the same as every other day: wake up, patrol around Megaton, scavenge some scrap for Moira, eat dinner, go to bed. She shouldn't have minded, her father would probably be happy she had a semblance of normality in this wasteland but sitting around hadn't been her style in the vault and after almost a year of fighting and struggling to bring Project Purity to life, these last two years of no action other than the occasional attack by raiders had left her feeling hollow and listless.

Climbing out of bed, she quickly dressed in her favorite combat armor and grabbed her trusty sniper rifle as she headed downstairs to see Charon was back from another caravan run. In the time they've travelled together Alice liked to think Charon had started to see her more like a friend than the one that held her contact. He had taken a job as a caravan guard and Alice wouldn't see him for weeks or months at a time but she reassured him that he'd always have a place at her house.

"You're finally back. Where did you go this time?" Alice asked as she grabbed a beer from the fridge and tossed it to Charon. It had become a routine in itself that whenever Charon came back from a caravan run Alice would pass him a beer and he'd tell her about anything interesting that happened during his travels.

"Went farther than usual. Ended up in Colorado and overheard some traders talking about a place called New Vegas. If I had to guess, it's probably Las Vegas over in Nevada. From what they said, the place is almost untouched by the bombs and the casinos are still open." He explained, sitting down to check his shotgun for repairs. He knew Alice loved when he talked about pre-war places and before she even asked he started explaining about Las Vegas.

"Vegas was like an oasis in the middle of a desert. It was mostly a place people went to thinking they could get rich quick by gambling at the casinos and winning more money. More often than not you left Vegas empty handed but that didn't stop people from trying." He explained while Alice hung onto every word. Her mind was already reeling as she imagined a place not destroyed by the bombs. She heard Charon huff and looked over to see him shaking his head.

"I know that look. You want to see New Vegas yourself don't you?" He asked, already knowing the answer. Since the day Alice had scrounged up enough caps to buy his contact he had quickly learned to read Alice to not only help her in whatever crazy job she got dragged into but to help her grow from the stumbling vaultie that somehow made it to the Underworld with a vault jumpsuit and a pistol to the young woman that was being called the savior of the wasteland.

"Can you blame me? The last time I had any real action was when we were dealing with Enclave remnants. You know me better than I know myself Charon, I love Megaton and everyone here but…" Alice sighed, looking away. It was probably selfish of her to even think of leaving the Capital Wasteland but thinking about New Vegas reminded her of when she'd daydream about leaving vault 101. She heard the clink of an empty beer bottle land in her trash can as Charon stood up and slung his shotgun back onto his back.

"The next caravan I'm guardian is heading to Kansas, from there it should be only a few weeks before we reach New Vegas."

It took Alice a moment to process his words before she could properly thank him as she ran upstairs to pack up her traveling pack.

\-----------------------------

Her head pounded as she slowly regained consciousness. A fan slowly spun above her head and she could hear an older man's voice talking to her.

"You're awake, I was starting to think you'd never wake up." 

She groaned softly as she sat up and saw an old man sitting in a chair across from her. The man stood up to gently help her move into a sitting position before grabbing a doctor's bag and began a quick check up.

"You're really lucky missy. Not many people come back from being shot in the head and being buried alive." He said as he checked her eye dilation and reflexes. 

"Where...am I?" Her throat felt parched and she couldn't hold back a cough that tickled her throat. The old man, finally introducing himself as Doc Mitchell, passed her a canteen full of water and she quickly swallowed a few mouthfuls. 

"Easy there, you're in a little town called Goodsprings. Do you know where that is?"

She thought for a moment but the name didn't sound familiar to her and she shook her head.

"Do you remember your name?"

She was about to answer and paused. No name came to her. The harder she thought to remember her name the more her head started to pound and she groaned in pain.

"Ah, you probably lost your memory due to the shot to your head." Doc Mitchell walked away while she tried to calm her pounding head and returned with a bag and passed it to her.

"The securitron that dug you up, Victor, found this not too far away from where you were. Maybe there's something that'll jog your memory."

She dug through the bag and found a canteen, a pair of casual clothes, some food and two slips of paper. One was a delivery delivery order that talked about a platinum poker chip. The other was a worn piece of paper with most of the writing faded out. The clearest writing was at the top where she could make out a single name.

"Charon"

A sharp pain in her head made her drop the paper and clutch her head in pain. The last thing she heard was Doc Mitchell ask if she was alright before she fell unconscious and slipped into what she assumed was a memory.

_She sat across from the large ghoul whose contract she just bought from the now deceased Ahzrukhal. She wasn't scared of Charon per se but anyone would be wary after watching your new partner blow the head off his previous owner._

_"So let me see if I got this straight: I can't give you your contract back and I can't just tell you you're free. Is there really no way to free you from this contract?" She asked, taking a bite out of a stale snack cake. She had bought Charon's contract in an attempt to free him but now she found herself actually stuck as his new owner (she refused to say master and immediately told him not to call her anything like it)._

_"The only way I could be free from this contract is if I die. As long as I live I'll protect you until I die or you pass the contract on to someone else." Charon explained, not looking up from his shotgun as he replaced a few parts from a scavenged shotgun she found._

_"Great" she grumbled, losing her appetite at the thought of him putting himself in harm's way just because he was forced to protect her._

_"Charon, I don't want to be your master, I want to be your friend. But, I'm only going to give you one order: no matter what, don't die for me."_

_"My orders are-"_

_"I know but these are mine. Please, just promise you'll try to follow it."_

_"I'll... I'll try."_

\-----------------------------

It had been a week since Six woke up. After waking up and explaining what happened to Doc Mitchell she had given herself the name Six after looking at her courier number on the delivery order. While Doc Mitchell was happy that she had remembered something from her past, Six just felt more confused. From what she saw in her memory, she had bought a ghoul who was under a contract to protect her and yet from what Doc Mitchell told her there was no ghoul around matching the description she gave him. 

She had spent most of the week recovering and relearning how to shoot with the help of Sunny Smiles. When Sunny deemed her acceptable enough to defend herself Six dressed in some armor Doc Mitchell gave her along with a pipboy that previously belonged to his wife and decided to look for the man in the checked suit that shot her and search for Charon along the way.

Her first stop was the town of Primm to hopefully get some information about the package she accepted and to see if Charon was with her when she accepted it. When she arrived she wasn't expecting to get dragged into a shootout with a group of escaped convicts, backtrack to the NCR Correctional Facility to find a sheriff then trek all the way to the Mojave Outpost to convince some guy at a desk to parole the potential sheriff. By the time she returned to Primm to tell Meyers Six was exhausted. Luckily the manager of the Mojave Express was kind enough to invite her to dinner with his wife to thank her for her help.

"Really I can't thank you enough for this." Six thanked Johnson Nash's wife Ruby as she placed a steaming bowl of stew in front of her. Six held herself back from just shoveling the stew into her mouth and slowly ate while Johnson explained about the package she took. A pile of metal on the counter nearby caught her eye and she quickly realized it was a powered down eyebot. 

"What's with the robot?" She asked, pointing to eyebot after finishing her meal.

"Oh that? Another courier brought it in. I tried looking at it but I can't seem to get the thing working. I was planning on taking it to the scrapyard in Novac but if you'd like to take a look at it be my guest." Johnson said and Six walked over to the eyebot and checked for damage. From what she could see, a few pieces needed to be replaced and after digging through her bag she quickly found the needed parts and got to work repairing the little bot.

It took Six about an hour but after replacing the last sensor module she heard the eyebot start up and let it go to let it hover just above her head. The eyebot let out a series of beeps that Six could have sworn sounded like it was confused.

"Hey there, glad to see you're still functioning." Six said, watching the eyebot hover around her in a circle. She noticed a license plate stuck to the side of the bot and while most of the numbers were faded she could make out a few words.

"ED-E? Is that your name? ED-E?" 

ED-E played what sounded like a victory song and stopped circling to face her. Maybe it was the head trauma or maybe something else but Six couldn't help but find the robot...cute.

"Well the ED-E, I'm looking for some people and I wouldn't mind some company. How do you feel about coming with me?"

Six gladly took ED-E playing a little jingle as a confirmation.


	2. One in A Million

Six found out quickly she was glad for the company she gained with ED-E. While ED-E couldn't really talk back, the beeps he made after Six would finish a comment or story made her believe he was paying attention to what she said. After restocking at the Mojave Outpost and striking up a conversation with a woman with the most unique name Six ever heard, she left the outpost in high spirits as ED-E bobbed to the music playing from her radio.

Her good mood was short lived as she approached the town of Nipton. She had seen the smoke in the distance but smoke couldn't prepare her for the scent of burning flesh that carried on the wind as she walked through the town entrance. She was surprised to see a powder ganger running her way and before she could take out her rifle the powder ganger grabbed her and pulled her into a bone crushing hug.

"Yeah! Who won the lottery? I did!" He cheered while Six shoved him off her. She tried asking about this lottery but she couldn't get an answer out of him and watched as he ran away whooping and cheering along the way. Six walked down the main street and the closer she came to the town hall, the worse the sight before her became. Piles of charred bodies littered the streets and she could hear the dying moans of the people crucified on either side of the street. She saw a group of men flanked by dogs approach her and she immediately raised her rifle, pointing it at the leader of the group. The group circled her, guns and machetes pointed at her while the leader spoke to her, voice cold and emotionless.

"Don't worry, I won't have you lashed to a cross like the rest of these degenerates. It's useful that you happened by. I want you to witness the fate of the town of Nipton, to memorize every detail. And then, when you move on? I want you to teach everyone you meet the lesson that Caesar's Legion taught here, especially any NCR troops you run across."

As he explained his reasoning, Six felt a chill run down her spine. These people were unlike the raiders she had fought or even like the powder gangers. They were organized and deadly. She could tell right away if she tried fighting her way out it would end in her death. She reluctantly agreed to do what he asked even though all she wanted to do was empty her rifle into his face. As soon as the group left and she couldn't hear their footsteps anymore, Six collapsed to her knees and vomited. She could feel a familiar sharp pain in her head and she had just enough strength to crawl over to a nearby tree before falling into another memory.

_She had just enough time to run to a corner before throwing up at the sight when they entered Springvale Elementary School. She had quickly become used to seeing mutilated bodies thanks to raiders but she was not expecting to see so many corpses of children piled one on top of the other in a cage. The overpowering smell of blood was suffocating and she let Charon drag her out of the building where she continued to dry heave while he knelt next to her._

_"Should we turn back?" He asked, passing her a bottle of water. She gratefully took the bottle and washed her mouth out before weakly replying._

_"No, this place is not that far from Megaton. I don't think I can sleep at night knowing these raiders are here." She weakly stood up, grabbing the shotgun Charon had modified for her and turned to face the building again._

_"Alright, stay close to me and we'll be quick." Charon said as he took the lead as they entered the building._

When Six awoke it was late in the night. ED-E had kept watch while Six was passed out and let out a worried beep when she slowly sat up.

"I'm alright." She said as she stood up, dusting the dirt off her clothes and picking up her rifle. She checked her map and was relieved to see Novac wasn't too far away. She should be able to get there by dawn if she moves now.

\----------------------------------

"In other news, a package courier found shot in the head near Goodsprings has reportedly made a full recovery-" Boone turned off the radio sitting at his feet as he swept the area with his scope. He could almost imagine Manny laughing at the report as he shot another gecko that strayed too close.

_"Survived a shot to the head? The odds of that would be one in a million." He would laugh and ask him if he wanted to get drinks after their shift ends._

Movement from up the road caught Boone's eye and he focused his scope of the pair walking towards the town. The first thing he noticed was the color the woman's hair was. It was a stormy grey and Boone would have mistaken the woman for elderly if it wasn't for the fair face covered in dirt and blood but devoid of wrinkles. The second thing he noticed was the shaved side of her head where a jagged scar running from her forehead to behind her ear could obviously be seen.

_Looks like I'm looking at that one in a million._

He turned to leave his perch. Dawn was approaching and Manny should be coming up to swap shifts. As Boone exited the dinosaur he could see Manny talking to the woman he saw earlier and gesturing to the road that led to the REPCONN building. He was surprised to see the woman nod and leave to speak to one of the traveling traders before leaving in the direction of REPCONN. Boone assumed the woman just signed her own death warrant and entered his room to attempt to get some sleep.

Boone was surprised to see the woman again when she burst into the perch the next night during his shift. He hid his surprise with a growl as he lowered his rifle that was pointed at her head. He could have swore he heard her mumble something about not surviving a shot from him.

"Goddamn it, don't sneak up on me like that. What do you want?" He said, glaring at the woman.

"Sorry, I was looking for Manny. I wanted to tell him I took care of the ghoul problem." She said, looking truly apologetic for surprising him.

"Can I assume those rockets I saw earlier were your doing then?" He asked, remembering the rockets he saw flying by from the direction of REPCONN when he was heading to his shift.

"Yeah...you probably wouldn't believe me if I said I think I just sent a bunch of ghouls to space." She said with a laugh. Usually Boone wouldn't believe a story like that but then again, if this is the courier that survived a shot to the head then anything was possible. Before Boone could reply she was already turning to leave.

"Well anyway, I'll let you get back to work. I'll talk to Manny in the morning."

"Wait."

She paused and looked back at him confused. He didn't realize he said the word out loud and looked away for a moment to compose himself.

"I could use your help. My wife was taken from our home by Legion slavers one night while I was on watch." Boone could hear a sharp inhale from the woman as he continued. "I'm looking for the son of a bitch who sold her but I need someone else to search for me."

"Say no more, what do you need me to do?"

Boone was surprised how quickly she agreed to his request but he wasn't going to deny that he was glad she was willing to help out. He took off his beret and passed it to her.

"When you find the one who did it, bring them out in front of the best when I'm on duty. Put on my NCR beret so I know you're standing with them."

She nodded and explained she would start searching right away. Boone watched her leave before turning on the radio to distract him from his racing thoughts at finally finding out who took Carla from him.

\----------------------------------

Six wiped the blood off her cheek as Jeannie May Crawford's body crumpled at her feet. While she personally wanted to shoot the woman herself after reading the bill of sale; she wasn't going to deny Boone his revenge. When she talked to Manny that morning he told her all about Boone and the disappearance of his wife. While some around Novac believed she just left, she believed Boone when he said she was taken. While she wanted to be an optimist and believe she was alive, the fact Boone was here and not looking for hear made her assume he couldn't track where they went or she was dead.

She passed Boone the bill of sale when she returned to him and could see his hand grip the paper tightly as he read.

"I guess that's it then. Here, this is all I can give you for your help." He said as he passed her a small bag filled with caps. 

"What are you going to do now?" She asked, watching him collect the few items of his and hang his rifle on his back.

"I might wander like you, don't see much point in anything right now except hunting legionaries." He said, voice void of any feeling. Unlike the voice of the legionary she met earlier, this wasn't the voice of someone who cared for nothing, this was the voice of someone who had nothing left. Something in the back of her mind told her that if she left him now it would be the last time she ever saw him.

"Why don't you come with me?" She asked, making him pause as he walked past her. He looked down at her and even though she couldn't see his eyes through his sunglasses she could tell he was looking at her with suspicion.

"Why should I?"

"I don't have much love for the Legion myself, I'd gladly like to take out a few of them on my way to New Vegas. Another thing," she nodded to the rifle on his back that just a day ago was pointed at her head. "Don't snipers usually work in pairs? I might not have a proper rifle but I'm a good shot and can spot you."

He surprised himself when he chuckled at her reasoning. Truthfully she had him at killing legionaries but she was also right that he was used to having a partner. He reached out and took his beret from off her head and placed it on his as he opened the door. 

"Alright, let me grab some things then we can go."

Six sat outside Boone's room giving ED-E a tune up while she waited for him to join her. She was glad to have Boone join her since she wasn't lying when she said she wanted to kill some legionaries. After what she saw at Nipton she knew the Legion had to be stopped before every town in the Mojave became like Nipton.

Six was pulled from her thoughts when something was suddenly placed on her head as Boone walked past her. She reached up and grabbed the item which turned out to be an NCR beret. She looked up at Boone and could see his beret was still on his head and quickly realized it was the same as his.

"Consider it a thank you for bringing me along." Was all he said as Six placed the beret back on her head and rebooted ED-E so they could continue their journey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are always appreciated and I hope you enjoyed reading! ❤️


End file.
